


Multiply

by carterogers



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-05-13 13:08:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14749469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carterogers/pseuds/carterogers
Summary: When life has different paths and plans to lead us where we need to be.





	1. Prologue

**Prologue**

 

There was something curious on the way people could gather for coffee, in many distinguish behaviors. Or at least Steve thought so. Working at a coffee shop as a barista he’d see people come and go every day, _all sorts_ of people. The grumpy morning comers, the overly happy seven “amers”, the never look never talk costumers. All there for one reason. Fuel up to face the brutality of the day. He thought it was all absolutely poetic, how people’s manners changed according to their needs. There was this sort of curiosity that always got him lost on his thoughts and late on the lattes. But he never forgot _hers_. It was always freshly brewed, warm and ready to go when she’d step into the shop with all that class and smile she always did.

 

Steve would tell himself, and his co-workers, that it was simply because he knew Peggy Carter since third grade when she defended him from some bullies. That they were best friends, everyone knew. Only Steve had failed to notice everything else that happened to them beyond that. Like Sophomore dance, when she promptly asked him to go with her as a hint of all those feelings that were going on. And again on Senior prom when she repeated the move in hopes that’d finally snap it to Steve. But there was so much a girl could do without being too blunt—which Mrs. Carter had taught her daughter never to be. And so she move on with her life.

 

College in England had always been in her plans, so Steve didn’t even think to protest or beg her to stay, as much as he wanted to. The letters were frequent at the start until they started coming back, so he too stopped sending. And for four and a half years he didn’t hear anything about her. When she finally came back, everything was changed.

 

He was graduated in fine arts although he still served coffee at the same spot he worked weekends during school, where now he’d play and make art on brewed coffee and foam. Living as a painter wasn’t that easy, but his talent was visible, so there was always an online gig here and there. Commissions weren’t his favorites, but paid the bills. Life wasn’t exactly an absolute tragedy, just boring at times—routine killed him. So when she walked again on that coffee shop, it was like everything got a new light. But it didn’t last all that long…


	2. One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beware of curse words ahead.

**One**

 

 _"_ _Tell me that you'll turn down the man_  
_Who asks for your hand_ _  
_ _Cause you're waiting for me_

 _And I know, you're gonna be away a while_ _  
_ _But I've got no plans at all to leave_

 _And would you take away my hopes and dreams?_ _  
_ _And just stay with me_ _"_

_\- Ed Sheeran_

 

The alarm went on at five as usual. But it seemed heavier than the past… Hell, Steve couldn’t name a time where it all felt so crushing down on him. Not even the multiple times he had gotten wasted along the years. This was beyond whatever fucked up reaction could bring to one’s body. It was reality knocking at his door. He never expected seeing Peggy again would bring him to such a rollercoaster, but then again he remembered that’s exactly how it felt the first time they met.

 

 _As usual_ Steve was into some sort of trouble with a kid that was much bigger than him, but for a change Bucky wasn’t there that time. He had been sure Steve could stay out of trouble for a day, but of course that wasn’t a possibility. Peggy came as his savior and they never grew apart. Steve still remember her pushing the kid—that was much bigger than them both, threatening them when they tried to pull at her pigtails and chasing after the boys. But the part that stuck the most was her helping the little scrawny kid he had once been to stand up and wiping away the sand off his face. His pride had been awfully hurt and she still managed to make him feel like the luckiest guy on earth.

 

Different from that time, the previous night he had felt like the stupidest man alive. When she first walked in the coffee shop, smiling at him, Steve couldn’t believe it was really her. He had to take a second, and possibly a third long look before she reached the counter to order.

 

“Hi, Stranger.” Her voice was still the same charming melody he remembered. She was was taller though. Past that awkwardness of puberty to be this lovely angel. Steve had to punch himself internally a couple times to stop sounding so idiotic in his head and weird on the outside to actually utter anything.

 

“H—Hey.” Blinking several time and swallowing many more—as his throat had dried completely, he managed to add though, “You’re back.”

 

“Yes… It’s been a while.”

 

“Four years.”

 

“And a half, I know.” His hopes leveled like never before when she added it, as if he wasn’t the only one counting. “My dad reminds me every day.”

 

“Oh—!” Of course it hadn’t been for him, how stupid he could have been. “I’m sure he must have missed you a lot.” Steve knew for himself that he had.

 

Peggy nodded, her smile broader. “I missed you, Steve.”

 

“Do you wanna catch up after I finish my shift?” He hadn’t ever expected her to say so suddenly that she had in fact missed him, but Steve was trying not to miss the changes there—like he had before, and to keep the line short as it was building up behind here. Which she noticed with a glance over her shoulder.

 

“Yes, I’d love to.”

 

“Can I get you something to drink?”

 

“Same old, same old.” She smiled with a wonder if he’d remember, which he most certainly did.

 

“You got it.” As she took her wallet out, Steve shook his head. “It’s on me.”

 

“Steven, no.” It wasn’t until she pushed the bill toward him that he noticed the big diamond on her finger. And she saw he noticed too. All the warmness of seeing each other again seemed to fade away completely because of Steve’s clear disappointment—and her surprise toward it.

 

All felt awkward after that. She pushed the ten bill on the tips box and Steve nodded as she walked away silently. He brought her the coffee when it was ready but when he finished his shift, she was no where to be found. Steve had no idea when she left, as he kept mostly to himself the rest of the day, looking down—in an awfully painful to watch quietness. And even after those years, she still knew him too well not read the signs. After all, he had always been the one blind to them.

 

They never spoke that afternoon. Instead Steve went home and painted. He hadn’t painted something so good in a while. It was profound and intense and hurtful. He didn’t know why, but it hurt. Of course he wasn’t a school boy anymore, he knew for a fact his feelings toward Peggy had always been of more than friends and now he understood them. But it had been years and they both had moved on with their lives. It felt odd how betrayed that ring made him feel.

 

He told himself he had to go back to reality and stop thinking about her, but it wasn’t all that easy. And she wasn’t helping at all when she showed up at five thirty in the morning at the place he worked.

 

“Peggy? What are you—?”

 

“We never talked.” She explained, with a small shrug. “I had a hm, commitment I had to attend to. And I wanted to give you some space, you seemed upset.”

 

“What? No, no, I wasn’t upset.” If there was one thing Steve always had been, that was being a bad liar. But Peggy didn’t want to argue and accuse. “Hey come in, I have to prep the store to open and it’s freezing out here.”

 

It truly was freezing so she didn’t argue, although it would be nice to have a moment of his full attention. “I didn’t know you still worked here.”

 

“Well, pays the bills. Isn’t all that easy being a freelance artist.” Steve shrugged, going behind the counter to fix up some things. Start brewing the grains was always calming, but today he just felt himself all over the place. “What brought you back here?”

 

“I’m getting married.” He wanted to say he had noticed, in the grumpiest way possible, but instead he smiled at her and tried to be nice.

 

“That’s great, Peggy. Congratulations.” He was honest though, for her he could honestly pretend to be happy for. “I hope he’s making you happy.”

 

“He is.” She nodded, absent minded for a moment, while her eyes never left his.

 

“How’s the wedding connected to your return?” Steve couldn’t help to ask, even when he didn’t really want answers for that.

 

“We’re marrying here. My family is still here and his doesn’t mind traveling. And well, our friends are very few over there, he travels a lot and I lived most of my life here anyways…”

 

“Wow! That’s…”

 

“A lot, I know.”

 

“It’s good that you’re back though, Peggy.” He admitted. Deep down, didn’t matter if she was his or not, mattered if she was there. Well, that was deep down, of course. On the surface he was still pretty much jealous of whoever was the man that asked for her hand.

 

“We’re only staying until the wedding, then we’re going back there.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“No, it’s alright. I mean, I understand. You have your life there.” And they hadn’t spoke in at least two years.

 

“Why did you stop writing?” All of the sudden, there was rage in her tone, anger and he couldn’t really figure out why.

 

“I’m—I’m sorry. Life got complicated and in the way. I didn’t meant to—” He felt the upset and guilt take over again, seeing her distress. “You stopped too.” it seemed it went away when she shook it out.

 

“I know.” Peggy sighed, checking the hour, knowingly he’d be starting work soon and she’d be needed to head back shortly as well. “Look, my sister is my maid of honor, but you’re still my best friend, Steve. And I wanted you to come and be my _bridesman_.”

 

“What?”

 

“We weren’t there for each other for the past two years and I haven’t seen you for almost five. I want to reconnect, I want us to be there for each other again. So please just say you will.”

 

“You know I would do anything for you, Peggy.”

 

“I know. So would I, Steve.”

 

~

 

Peggy didn’t expect to feel this crushed as she made her way back home. For Gods sake, what did she expect? That Steve would beg her not to marry, plead her to stay. They hadn’t seen for nearly five years, it was insanity to think they still had any chance. She surely had helped he would have said something, or been less distant.

 

Daniel was a great man. They had met in college, had everything in common. He was the complete gentleman, always so understanding and caring. He wasn’t Steve. He wasn’t the guy she had swooned over through out middle and high school, that she had cried about when she had to leave the US, that she wrote every day for a year until the responses started to come in spared out. She had thought then that he moved on, that he found another best friend—or someone who at least had the courage to talk about her feelings toward him. So she opened herself. She found many men, but none were Steve. Daniel wasn’t Steve and because of that he carried the security she so longed for. A stable life, a certain job, a well balanced life. He was everything the man she loved wasn’t, and maybe that’s why she allowed herself to be with him, to care for him.

 

He never questioned the world, he always slept peacefully, he didn’t isolate himself when trouble, he didn’t speak up to injustices. Some of it felt horrible at first, when she though about it, but it was so opposite to what she had been expecting of a man—because of Steve, that she didn’t bat an eyelash to throw herself into his arms. And now there they were, getting married. It wasn’t a fairytale, the story of two best friends who fell in love in third grade and lived together until they grew grey and their grandkids ran around them. It was safe, it was real.

 

Sometimes he annoyed her, deeply. But she’d choose to hold onto that as something every couple had. Steve drove her absolutely mad all the time—but then again they were never really a couple. They were best friends. Which was a term she grew to load completely, given the circumstances. When Daniel first started with those ideas, she quickly cut him short. Peggy had never felt so pushy and desperate in her life like when they dated. It was something she needed to hold onto. But she realized it gave her fiancé a completely different person than Steve knew. Truth was, he knew who Steve was, but never how much he meant to Peggy.

 

Maybe that had been the reason she sneaked in the morning to go meet Steve, while Daniel was still asleep, and returned just in time for him to wake up.

 

“You up already?” The sleepy man on the hotel bed asked, scratching his eyes. “And dressed.”

 

“I couldn’t sleep, I just changed.” Peggy stepped on his space to sit on the edge of the bed. “How did you sleep, honey?”

 

“Alright, I guess. Still quite jet lagged.” Daniel yawned, pulling her down for a sloppy kiss. She returned, absent minded but caring. “Wanna go grab a bite?”

 

Peggy mumbled in agreement against his lips. “Go wash off and put some clothes on.” She strolled off back to her suitcase, fishing out some items for her purse.

 

“Thought you would want to repeat last night.” He asked, now behind her, holding her. Still naked to the bone.

 

She couldn’t help the grin before turning around on her ankles. “I’ve got a lot to do today, Daniel. It’s not our honeymoon yet.” Peggy mumbled against his lips, sweetly kissing.

 

“Bummer… But soon.” He lifted her off the floor, which made her laugh, hitting his chest.

 

“Put me down!” And so he did, pecking her forehead.

 

“I’ll go change.” As he walked to the bathroom, Peggy watched him. The squared shoulders and somewhat pleasant bottom. He wasn’t all that bad and he made her laugh, so how hard could it be to love a man like that?

 

~

 

 _“All my senses come to life_ _  
_ _While I'm stumbling home as drunk as I_ _  
_ _Have ever been and I'll never leave again_ _  
_ _Cause you are the only one_

 _And all my friends have gone to find_ _  
_ _Another place to let their hearts collide_

 _Just promise me,_ _you'll always be a friend_

_Cause you are the only one”_

 

Steve stumbled drunkly inside the house, tripping on some painting that he barely remembered leaving there. Were the light on when he left to meet his friends at a bar? He was almost certain he had shut everything off. Maybe he was just was too drunk.

 

“Holy fuck!” He exclaimed when he saw Peggy standing there in the middle of his living room. Or maybe he was _really_ way too drunk. “What are you—?”

 

“Your sister told me about the key under the left plant.” She explained, trying to understand why he seemed so off. “I’m sorry to startle you, she said you wouldn't mind if I came inside, in case you weren't home. Have you… been drinking?”

 

“It was a friend’s birthday.” He explained, as it was only a half lie. “Everyone got sorta over excited on the drinks. I didn’t know—I didn’t know you’d be here.”

 

“I didn’t mean to intrude, I wanted to talk. Without you being in the middle of making someone’s coffee.” Steve felt somewhat attacked by her words, but he was too drunk to process it properly and remind her she was the one who left.

 

“Alright, let’s talk. What you wanna talk about? The cake you’re gonna have, your dress, how awesome your fiancé is?” There was that clear irony in his words, the type that hint exactly what Peggy was fishing for.

 

“I knew you were upset!”

 

“Damn right I am.”

 

“Why?” She accused then, louder. “You stopped writing, _you_ disappeared.”

 

“I know, I know, ok!” Steve had no idea how fast that managed to escalate. “But you could have written me too, called, I don’t know! Told me you were getting married.”

 

“I came all the way here to do so.”

 

“Yeah, wait to throw the news…”

 

“Why are you being such an asshole?” She accused, angrily, marching to the door. “You’re drunk, I shouldn’t have come.”

 

The idea of her leaving made him panic all of the sudden. “Peggy, no, wait.” He stoped her by the arm, gaze full of regret and fear. “Don’t go. I’m sorry.”

 

She pulls away from his grip, but doesn’t leave. “You _know_ how much you always meant to me, Steve. I wanted you to be part of my happiness.”

 

“I love you, Peggy.” That took both of them back, him more than anyone.

 

“No.”

 

“No?”

 

“You don’t get to do this. You don’t get to never have acted on your feelings and stop talking to me and now say that. You can’t do that.”

 

“But I do love you. As a friend and we both know more than that.” He shakes his head. “It sucked for me too. You were in Europe, I was here. What was I supposed to do?”

 

“I don’t know, maybe give me any sign I should have waited.” Peggy paces frustratedly but it’s Steve that takes a step back on his own accusations when he sees tears in her eyes.

 

“Peggy…?”

 

“I hate you, Steve.” And just like that, her lips collapsed against his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a side note, please forgive any grammatical mistakes you may come across. English is not my first language but I'm trying to watch out for those. Let me know if you know any or wanna beta it.


End file.
